RHS & MEN Ginnel Garden

My RHS Tatton Park Flower Show 2023 Garden

I am proud to have designed an RHS - Royal Horticultural Society feature garden in partnership with Manchester Evening News for the RHS Tatton Park Flower 2023 built by @crowton_rowarth_ltd

"The RHS & MEN Ginnel Garden"

The garden is set in a suburban ginnel (alleyway) in the North West. It will showcase how a community can be brought together through the power of gardening. There will be wildflowers, a "tortoise farm," and, of course, areas where the community can grow their own food.

Through lockdown, many communities without traditional gardens took charge and reclaimed urban spaces to create their own spaces.

Some of the alleyway gardens I have visited over the past few months

The aim of this garden is to celebrate these gardens & inspire more people to take charge of their own ginnels and alleyways. However, I will also be using my platforms to show you the immense challenges these communities face to create & maintain these gardens.

Above is a picture of the final location site in Moss Side, Manchester.

After the show, the garden will be relocated to Newelyn St in Moss Side. Yaz (@mcrurbangardener) & her community have been taking care of their alley since 2018. To ensure the continued success of the garden, I have committed to working with the community for the next 12 months to ensure that the garden is managed and maintained. I will also be working with a local refugee charity to grow foods from other countries on the ginnel to show how gardening has the power to unite.

For more information check out episode 1 of my brand new Ginnel Garden series taking you behind the scenes of the build, design process & exploring the Ginnel gardens of the North West.

Special thanks to:

Robert Dyas offers an extensive range of hardware, appliances, and gardening equipment. They will be providing us with gardening equipment for the garden that will be relocated to the community

Recycle for Greater Manchester has provided us with recycled compost made from organic waste from Greater Manchester. They also offer a range of compost bins & wormeries to help Greater Manchester manage their waste.

I’ll be live on stage on Sunday 23rd July at Tatton, not once but twice! Plus, there’s a plant sell off on the Sunday where the traders/nurseries will be dropping their prices around 4pm, so it is definitely the best day to go!

Hopefully, I will see you there.

Jason x